SWORD

Fragment of a cast copper alloy sword blade, rectangular in plan and lozenge-shaped in profile and in section, with a raised but flattened mid-rib that rises about 1 mm above the surface of the blade on both sides and averages about 10 mm in width. Both cutting edges are worn and incomplete and the perpendicular edges to these are broken so that the original length of the blade is unknown as well as the position of this fragment along it, though it is likely between the hilt and the middle of the sword as this is where the blade tapers before expanding at the mid point. The fragment may be a result of deliberate decomissioning of a sword into separate pieces before it was ritually destroyed, or it may have been broken up in order to melt it down and re-use the metal. The two broken edges look like they were subsequently trimmed in order to re-use the weapon as a tool such as a razor or scraper. The wider broken end has a semi-circular notch that is 5 mm in diameter and has been deliberately produced as part of a rivet hole and this would not be where the hilt was riveted to the handle so it must be for later hafting when the fragment was re-used. The smooth dark green patina survives on both faces of the blade but the abraded edges are actively corroding. There are also flakes and gashes that have been caused from post-depositional damage that are also corroding and are light green in colour.

The lozenge-shaped section of the blade with a raised central mid-rib suggests that this is probably part of a sword from the Ewart Park phase of the Late Bronze Age, c.950-850 BC.

Needham & Rohl (1998) illustrate two similar lozenge-shaped sections of Ewart Park swords on page 135, fig.37, nos.386-7.

Pearce (1983) illustrates a similar section from a Ewart Park sword found at Cranborne in Dorset, on page 665, plate 104, no.365.

Knight, Ormrod & Pearce (2015) illustrate similar fragments of swords, from St Erth in Cornwall and Holne in Devon, on pages 74 & 99, plates 1 & 26, nos.21a-d (CORN-F4C163) & 136 (DEV-A6FA73), which are dated from the Ewart Park phase and the Late Bronze Age, c.1000-800 BC.